Authors: Ella Celestine
“I don’t need or want a bodyguard.” Brandy crossed her arms and legs in a clear
back off
sign.
“Well since you tried to sneak out on me, pardon me for not believing you.” Christian had been woken up late last night by the head of his security detail, informing him that his erstwhile bride to be had tried to escape.
“I can back out of this agreement at any time, and I’m not agreeing to have one of your goons follow me around.”
“You will, and that’s all I want to hear on the matter.” He was tired of arguing with her. They’d been together for less than a week, and all they had done was fight, bicker and argue.
“Well, that’s too damn bad. I wouldn’t have tried to go anywhere if you hadn’t put your hands on me. Oh did we forget about that, big man? Because I recall with great clarity how you
pushed me
and then raised your hand to hit me.”
Her chest heaved, and he thought she was beautiful in her anger. While Christian regretted his outburst last night, he didn’t apologize to anyone. “This is Ken Xiang, and he’ll be your personal bodyguard from here on out.”
Brandy stood and glared at him, probably wishing him dead he thought with a smug smile. “Whatever. Come on Ken, I have class.”
Christian watched her round ass sculpted for his viewing pleasure in a pair of fitted jeans. Damn he wished the woman was mute because then she would be perfect. She was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, which was likely the reason he was in this predicament, but he would bring her to heel. A smile crossed his face as an idea formed in his head.
Jealousy. Women couldn’t stand being tossed over for another.
~
“So Ken, tell me all about yourself.” Brandy sat in the back of a matted black Tahoe next to the handsome Asian bodyguard, trying hard not to stare.
“Not much to tell, Miss. I used to be in the Navy, and when I got out last year, I joined my buddy’s security company.”
Brandy was extremely observant, she had to be if she wanted to be a trauma surgeon, and this man carried himself with confidence and awareness. “I’m guessing you spent one or two years in the Navy before becoming a SEAL and that buddy of yours is your closest friend. Parents? Siblings?”
Ken shifted in his seat, feeling uncomfortable with just how aware he was of his new charge. “Wow, you got all that from sitting next to me for five minutes? Maybe you’re in the wrong field.”
She laughed, savoring the moment since there hadn’t been many of them in the past few weeks. “Nah, I think medicine will be fine for me. I’m not coordinated enough to jump from plans or hold my breath for a long time. But you look like a capable man, used to calling the shots.”
He smiled, enjoying the way she talked too much to cover her nervousness. “Thanks, I think. It’s useful in this line of work. My parents live in Chicago, and my twin sisters are both at grad school in Texas.”
“I always wished I had siblings. Growing up in a big house all alone wasn’t very fun. I had lots of friends but with curfews and all that, it wasn’t the same.”
Stop rambling.
It had been a long time since she’d even give a man a second glance but Ken, there was something about him. He had a comforting presence.
“Is that it? He has a big family?”
Shit.
He held up a hand in surrender and apologized. “Not my business.”
“No, you’re right.” She explained to him quickly about the deal her father made with him. “I was and am furious, but all those families losing their income when I could have stopped it? What was I supposed to do?”
He admired her integrity but had to wonder at her sanity. “That’s very admirable.”
She laughed. “You mean crazy, and I know. After meeting the insufferable man I was rethinking everything.”
And I have every day since.
“Since we’re stuck with each other and we have fifteen minutes until my class, tell me your favorite memory of being in the military.”
Ken told her about the time all the guys had been bored and decided to recreate an old Paula Abdul video. They’d taped it and sent it to their families, finding out a week later it had gone viral. “We were bombarded with care packages from people thanking us for our service and suggesting other songs.” She laughed, and he let the sound caress his skin, leaving traces of warmth.
“That’s so great! I’ll have to look it up after class.” The car came to a stop, and she felt disappointed the conversation was over. “I have classes until seven, and they’re in the same building so I don’t think you need to stay the whole time.”
He smiled. “I’ll be close.” He tapped his phone to hers and smiled. “Now I have your number, and you have mine. Later, Miss.”
“Brandy. The name is Brandy.
Ken.
” She smiled and walked to class with a little extra bounce in her step.
~
Christian had tried everything he could think of to get Brandy to pay attention, more importantly, to make her jealous. He’d come home very late after spending the night at one of the many clubs in town, reeking of other women’s perfume. He’d even left a smear of lipstick on his neck, put there by a former lover. She’d looked at him with a clear lack of interest in those tawny brown eyes and then went back to her textbooks.
Then he’d taken a call in the empty study she’d taken over as her own, while she went over note cards for class. It was a random girl whose image he couldn’t even recall, but she’d been happy to play along as he cooed and talked in a low and sexy voice. His back was to her most of the time, but when he’d turned, her head was buried in a book, and earbuds blocked his call from her ears. Nothing had worked.
Tonight he had a plan that was guaranteed to get a reaction from her. Her name was Candy, and she was the exact opposite of Brandy in every way from her white blonde hair and silver eyes to her long legs and fake double D rack. Best of all she was a prostitute. Brandy’s upper-class sensibilities would force a reaction, so he steeled himself before he pushed the door open with Candy hanging from one side of his body. “Honey, I’m home!” He bellowed, clearly drunker than he realized, and frowned when he realized she wasn’t coming out. “Brandy, my bride to be, where are you?”
Still no answer. Grabbing Candy, he stalked down the hall to the right of the main foyer and kicked open the door of her study. “Ah, there you are. Candy, I’d like you to meet my uptight bride to be, Brandy.”
She looked up and assessed both intruders, flashing a smile at Candy. “Nice to meet you, Candy. Would you like a bottle of water,” she offered, nodding to the small fridge in the corner.
“That’d be great thanks,” she enthused with a confused expression on her face. “Thanks,” she murmured nervously when Brandy handed her the bottle.
“No problem.” She smiled at Brandy, practically ignoring Christian altogether. “Now if you two don’t mind, I’ve got studying to do.” And her nose was back buried in that damned textbook.
He growled and pulled Candy along back down the hall and up the stairs to his suite of rooms. After a few kisses and a few glasses of whiskey, Christian passed out, confident his security team would escort Candy home.
When he awoke later, his mouth was dry and his he felt the early stages of a headache that, by morning, would be a full-fledged hangover. Blindly feeling the bed beside him in search of his companion but the bed was cold. “Dammit,” he slid off the bed, making sure to keep the room as dark as possible. “Where are you,” he sang as he looked in the bathroom, sitting and dressing rooms and came up empty. He stalked down the hall, thinking in his drunken haze that maybe she’d gone off to explore the large mansion. When he couldn’t find her after ten minutes, he’d called his head of security and learned she’d been taken home hours ago. He hung up and remembered there was still a woman in the house. One who hated him in a way that could only shield an equal amount of desire.
Christian stopped outside her door and waited for a long minute before he knocked. When she didn’t answer, he knocked harder and harder until the door shook. “Brandy, open up!” After what felt like an hour of pounding on the door, the lock gave and the door flung open, startling Brandy further if wide burnt honey eyes were anything to go by.
“Christian, what the hell is wrong with you?”
He swayed unsteadily before approaching the bed. “I have a fever, Brandy. Only you can make me feel better, baby,” he slurred.
Eyes wide and heart racing, Brandy tried to figure out how to get away from the drunken lunatic stumbling to her bed. “Go to bed, you’re drunk.”
“Oh I plan to go to bed,” he had surprisingly deft fingers for a man who could hardly stand. “With you.”
“Get out of here!” She screamed and tossed a pillow, which only drew a laugh from him. “Seriously Christian, leave. Now.”
The damn fool leaned over as she leaned away and fell right on top of her. “You feel so good,” he mumbled. “Why don’t you like me?”
She answered angrily. “Because you’re an arrogant, drunken buffoon who is on top of me without permission.” A few seconds later she heard the telltale sound of a light snore. “Dammit, Christian Sweeney, I wish I’d never heard of you.”
Christian, deeply asleep, snuggled closer using her as his own personal pillow.
~
“Hi, Ken? Can you come up to my suite? I have a problem I need your help with.”
She hung up before Ken could respond and he wondered what was up. In the past couple weeks since he’d known Brandy she didn’t strike him as a humping housewife, so his curiosity was piqued. But when he got closer to the blue suite that was designated as hers his blood ran cold at the sight of the door, knocked off its hinges. “Brandy are you alright?”
“Yes but I’m stuck,” she called out.
Stuck?
He entered the room and gasped. “Shit, what did he do?”
Brandy rolled her eyes and explained quickly. “So he had wicked intentions, but the idiot was too drunk to follow through.” He was glad she sounded more pissed off than traumatized.
He bit out a curse and pulled her until she was free, wrapping his arms around her. Ken tried not to revel in the way she buried her face in his chest or the way her arms wrapped tight around his narrow waist. She needed comfort, that was it. Not some bodyguard lusting after her. “I’m glad you’re alright. Come to my room and I’ll sleep on the floor, but you’ll be safe.”
Brandy nodded and bit her bottom lip. Ken had to stifle a groan. “Okay, that sounds fine.” She wrapped a robe around her and let Ken guide her out of the house and to one of the cottages at the back end of the property. “Thank you for this Ken, and I’m sorry to involve you in this, but I didn’t know who else to call.”
Ken groaned, white knuckling the cart steering wheel as they drew closer to the cottage. “Don’t apologize. We’re friends, of course, I’ll protect you.” She gave him a smile tinted with sadness.
“Thanks, still.” She grabbed his bicep and squeezed. Having him here helped calm her down, but her hands still trembled. A few minutes later she was inside his cozy cabin, safe and finally starting to warm up.
“I’ll be right back,” he told her and left right back out.
Brandy, still feeling shaken and ice cold, removed her gown and robe and stepped into his shower. The water was hot, and she quickly warmed up, using his body wash and savoring that masculine scent that had been torturing her for weeks. Wrapped in only a towel because she couldn’t bear to put back on those night clothes that reeked of
him
, she walked out of the bathroom and screamed. “Oh Ken, I didn’t expect you back so soon.”
She shivered as his gaze darkened, sweeping over her water slicked body. “I just went to put him to sleep. I kept him in your room so he could see what he’d done when he wakes up.” He shook his head in disgust. “You should get some sleep.”
Brandy bit her lip, her hands still trembling lightly. “I hate to ask since you’ve already done so much, but can you hold me for a bit?”
He nodded and disappeared into the bathroom, returning less than a minute later in a pair of low riding pajama pants. Ken handed her a shirt, and she smiled, letting the towel drop and giving him a long look at her naked body, before sliding the t-shirt over her head. “Brandy,” he groaned. “Please.”
She hopped on the bed and slid towards the center with a defiant smile. “What? We’ve been circling each other for weeks because you’re an honorable man, and I’m trying to honor this silly contract. We have ignored what’s between us and after tonight, after knowing that he was prepared to take me by force, I’m done being honorable. But if I’ve read this wrong, I apologize.” She waited, heart frozen in her chest, for him to respond.
“You know you haven’t read it wrong, Brandy. I like you. I want you. But he’s my boss, and you’re going to marry him. Soon.”
“Maybe. After tonight I really need to think about things. I’m willing to help people but if I’m in physical danger, that kind of trumps their employment status, don’t you think?”
Ken nodded from where he still stood at the foot of the bed. “I do, but if you change your mind, if you regretted it, I couldn’t stand it.”
Brandy crawled to the end of the bed and cupped his face. “I would never regret it, Ken. I like you a lot. You make me laugh, you’re hot as hell, and I feel like I belong to you, something that doesn’t happen often. I want it. I want
you
.” Before Ken could say another word, Brandy fitted her mouth to his, swiping her tongue back and forth across his lips. They were warm and sweet, hot.